ARINC Engineering Services, LLC, has received a $9.5 million contract for technical and engineering services in support of the US Joint Precision Approach and Landing Systems (JPALS) and Navy Unmanned Combat Aerial Systems (N-UCAS) programmes. The US Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, MD, is the contracting activity. The Navy awarded a competitive five-year follow-on contract valued just under $41 million on February 28, 2012.
Brian Dewey, ARINC Defense Systems Director, Strategic Planning and Operations, said, “Our extensive JPALS work for the Department of Defense has given ARINC great engineering depth to develop SATNAV applications. ARINC is currently managing two JPALS automated landing programs for the U.S. Navy and Air Force. These proof-of-concept programmes have achieved exceptional accuracy, yielding dozens of successful proof-of-concept landings both ashore and at sea.”
ARINC recently participated in the historic July 2nd landing of a Navy F/A-18D aircraft emulating an unmanned aircraft that successfully performed several approaches to arrested landings on the deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69). It was the first such activity since 2002. The Navy said its July testing demonstrated cutting edge technology for integrating the digital control of autonomous carrier aircraft operations. Captain Jaime Engdahl, Navy UCAS Program Manager, said the successful landing and launching of the surrogate unmanned aircraft “allows us to look forward to demonstrating that a tailless, strike-fighter-sized, unmanned system can operate safely in the carrier environment.”
“As a prime support contractor providing JPALS and N-UCAS engineering services support since 1997, ARINC has assisted NAVAIR in maturing leading edge technologies necessary to make JPALS and NUCAS capable of providing the fleet with unprecedented capabilities,” Dewey added. ARINC as Prime Contractor has a depth of experience on all 14 qualifications covered in the Navy’s SOW, and leads a team of 12 subcontractors with relevant specialties.
The Navy ATC Systems Division located at St. Inigoes, Maryland, is acquiring research and development, test, program management, and engineering support for the JPALS and the N-UCAS programs, which are integrating GPS based, automated landing systems in a carrier environment.
Source: SatNews